Worst Cycle in History? EDIT: Somewhat poor cycle Forum

[DanInALionsDen]

[strike]Check out my LSN page and let me know what you think of my cycle. Did it go as poorly as I think it did, or are these results typical for a 171 (retake from a 166), 3.77 who applied in Jan.

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/daninalionsden

Then, if you'd like, vote above on my obnoxious poll, which I apologize for in advance.

EDIT: After law school I would like to possibly clerk then go into NYC biglaw, or else just go straight into biglaw. From there I would like to move to inhouse, maybe to a record label or film production company... somewhere that I can feel that I'm related to a creative industry (don't mock me for this). I would also like to enter into legal academia, though probably as an adjunct rather than a tenured professor. I just like the academic environment. I also might be interested in becoming a judge after some time.

Second EDIT--possible explanation?: I had two of my LOR writers author targeted letters for NYU. The cover page for the NYU letter said "recommendation (s)" for specific, and the cover page for the general letter said "recommendation (g)" for general. I'm worried that when my one or both of my LOR writers faxed the letters, they switched the letterheads, and I've been sending everyone NYU specific LORs, except for NYU... hmmmm.

[leftofthedial]

What's the goal in going to law school? What do you want to do?

[dp73816]

Man what an odd cycle...go to Georgetown, but wait on Columbia...or you could just take a year off, work on your PS and do some charity work, and reapply to all t-14's....

[thatsnotmyname]

Would you be happy with gov work or DC biglaw? If that's the case, I would take GULC rather than wait a year... In most other cases I think, with your numbers, I would wait a year and reapply.

Edit: I guess it also depends on how adverse you are to waiting a year/what you would be doing in the year off. I wouldn't want to wait a year though unless I had something decent lined up. Also a $90K scholarship at GULC is really nice.

[No1ustad]

u submitted in late jan.., what did u expect? quit whining and either take the $105k from gulc or next time submit at Least before new years.... i personally think ur lucky to get that much scholly $$, and if ur lucky, ull get off a WL after 2nd deposits are due..

[DanInALionsDen]

u submitted in late jan.., what did u expect? quit whining and either take the $105k from gulc or next time submit at Least before new years.... i personally think ur lucky to get that much scholly $$, and if ur lucky, ull get off a WL after 2nd deposits are due..

tre harsh. I applied in Jan bc I took the dec LSAT. Couldn't help it, but I guess I'm paying for it.

[09042014]

Gulc unless you get CN. 90K at GULC is a fairly decent result, but your cycle does suck. Who's child do you have to molest to get Wl'd at Duke with those numbers.

[webbylu87]

Worst cycle in history? Highly unlikely. Deserving of better opportunities? Probably yes. If you can wait, do it.

[DanInALionsDen]

Gulc unless you get CN. 90K at GULC is a fairly decent result, but your cycle does suck. Who's child do you have to molest to get Wl'd at Duke with those numbers.

Right? I'm worried that this is what may have happened:

I had two of my LOR writers author targeted letters for NYU. The cover page for the NYU letter said "recommendation (s)" for specific, and the cover page for the general letter said "recommendation (g)" for general. I'm worried that when my one or both of my LOR writers faxed the letters, they switched the letterheads, and I've been sending everyone NYU specific LORs, except for NYU... hmmmm.

[09042014]

Gulc unless you get CN. 90K at GULC is a fairly decent result, but your cycle does suck. Who's child do you have to molest to get Wl'd at Duke with those numbers.

Right? I'm worried that this is what may have happened:

I had two of my LOR writers author targeted letters for NYU. The cover page for the NYU letter said "recommendation (s)" for specific, and the cover page for the general letter said "recommendation (g)" for general. I'm worried that when my one or both of my LOR writers faxed the letters, they switched the letterheads, and I've been sending everyone NYU specific LORs, except for NYU... hmmmm.

I'd also consider sending NYU, the I'll do anything for you email. Tell them you'll withdraw apps and WL's everywhere if they let you attend.

[DanInALionsDen]

Gulc unless you get CN. 90K at GULC is a fairly decent result, but your cycle does suck. Who's child do you have to molest to get Wl'd at Duke with those numbers.

Right? I'm worried that this is what may have happened:

I had two of my LOR writers author targeted letters for NYU. The cover page for the NYU letter said "recommendation (s)" for specific, and the cover page for the general letter said "recommendation (g)" for general. I'm worried that when my one or both of my LOR writers faxed the letters, they switched the letterheads, and I've been sending everyone NYU specific LORs, except for NYU... hmmmm.

I'd also consider sending NYU, the I'll do anything for you email. Tell them you'll withdraw apps and WL's everywhere if they let you attend.

Haha. Already done. Email and hardcopy letter. I actually already withdrew from the WL at Duke and UVa to show that I was serious.

[PlugInBaby]

We are GPA twins and I am working to get to that level of LSAT. Seeing that makes me a tad nervous. I would chalk most of it up to applying in January. Waiting a year if you find the opportunity cost worth it can give you a far better selection and perhaps more money.

The main question I would ask you is that would you be fully satisifed with taking the Georgetown offer or would you feel as if you compromised and be wondering "what if?" I had a similar situation with Chicago-Kent offering me a full tuition the first year followed by 25k each subsequent year. I made so many mistakes on my application cycle and had a subpar LSAT performance in my eyes that I felt I really didn't get an accurate assessment of where I stand; I had to try again under any circumstances. If you can make substantial improvements from this cycle to next and the opportunity cost is low....by all means reapply.

[DanInALionsDen]

The only reason I'm even hesitant to take a year off is because I have 30k in undergrad loans which would come out to ~400/month in payments as far as I can tell. I obviously can't default on these loans, or else I won't be able to get a GradPlus loan. Does anyone know about the possibility of deferring loans for a year between undergrad and law school? I know that some charity work allows for this, but I think I may have missed the boat on those applications....

Also, if I take a year off, will I be able to put my loans back into deferral once I do enter law school?

[CCN]

I don't get it. This is not worst cycle in history. FYI, your softs were super soft. So you think you can dance? Hah, great.

[DanInALionsDen]

I don't get it. This is not worst cycle in history. FYI, your softs were super soft. So you think you can dance? Hah, great.

Are you mocking a charity which annually raises and donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to children with cancer and blood disorders and constitutes the largest student run philanthropy event in the state of New Jersey?

What a great sense of humor you have.

[CCN]

I don't get it. This is not worst cycle in history. FYI, your softs were super soft. So you think you can dance? Hah, great.

Are you mocking a charity which annually raises and donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to children with cancer and blood disorders and constitutes the largest student run philanthropy event in the state of New Jersey?

What a great sense of humor you have.

Right. You deserve YHS, no doubt. My mistake.

[DanInALionsDen]

I don't get it. This is not worst cycle in history. FYI, your softs were super soft. So you think you can dance? Hah, great.

Are you mocking a charity which annually raises and donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to children with cancer and blood disorders and constitutes the largest student run philanthropy event in the state of New Jersey?

What a great sense of humor you have.

Right. You deserve YHS, no doubt. My mistake.

How lame. First you understate the gravity of my volunteer work, then you overstate the extent of my ambitions. Not one thing you've said has been constructive or addressed the reality of my situation. Well done.

[DanInALionsDen]

Anyone else have some insight? I could use all the help and advice I can get.

[chevrondeference]

Given that you said you want to clerk, you should definitely wait a year if you don't get off one of those waitlists. If you're serious about clerking, you want to go to (in order of preference) Y>>>HS>>>CCN>MVPDN>>BCG. (I know that is not the traditional mishmash of letters, but that's my sense of how it works- Berkeley, Cornell, and Georgetown drastically underperform in clerkships).

Usually if you are making a low salary you can get your loans deferred for a year on the basis of hardship.

[Dr. Strangelove]

You applied too late.. January. That's why your cycle went worse than it could have.
You would have probably gotten into UVA/Duke/Penn otherwise.. these schools take a lot of qualified applicants Early Decision and it becomes increasingly difficult to get in.
If I were in your position, I'd go to GULC.
Georgetown doesn't have that bad of a placement in clerkships.. it's still in the Top 14.

[DanInALionsDen]

Given that you said you want to clerk, you should definitely wait a year if you don't get off one of those waitlists. If you're serious about clerking, you want to go to (in order of preference) Y>>>HS>>>CCN>MVPDN>>BCG. (I know that is not the traditional mishmash of letters, but that's my sense of how it works- Berkeley, Cornell, and Georgetown drastically underperform in clerkships).

Usually if you are making a low salary you can get your loans deferred for a year on the basis of hardship.

Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it--yours and everyone else's. I'm serious about at least wanting the opportunity to clerk. I can't say that I am wholly committed to clerking.

[chevrondeference]

You applied too late.. January. That's why your cycle went worse than it could have.
If I were in your position, I'd go to GULC.
Georgetown doesn't have that bad of a placement in clerkships.. it's still in the Top 14.

OK. I mean, Georgetown does considerably worse than the rest of the top schools when you look at the quality of clerkships it's getting. This has been my sense as someone who has gone through the clerkship process and done quite a bit of research. Plus they have a huge class size so even if their numbers were on par (which they aren't quite), your odds are worse. Sure, you can get a decent clerkship if you do really well there, but the difference is worth the wait if it's something you care about.

[evanxlee]

[deleted]

[DanInALionsDen]

make a deposit at GULC, wait it out on the others, and if nothing comes your way or you absolutely hate DC re-apply in october.

to make you feel better, my cycle went:

(applied mid-jan, 3.83/170/2009 berkeley grad/currently lead paralegal at a boutique class action/real estate/consumer protection firm in san diego)

Duke: WL
U of San Diego: In (no $)
Berkeley: out
BU: WL
GULC: out
UCLA: in (no $)
hastings: WL
NYU: out
BC: WL
Chicago, Columbia, U$C, Harvard: No response.

Caveat: my GPA reports at 3.13 because of a semester I had to leave due to hospitalization RIGHT before finals, resulting in straight F's. .. the infamous berkeley bureaucracy wouldn't help me out with it, so i wrote a lengthy addendum. Oh, and my PS was about IP/entertainment law.

So yeah, your cycle wasn't terrible. mine, on the other hand.....

Hmm. Your situation sucks, but at least your cycle has clear explanation.

[SilverE2]

I don't get it. This is not worst cycle in history. FYI, your softs were super soft. So you think you can dance? Hah, great.

Are you mocking a charity which annually raises and donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to children with cancer and blood disorders and constitutes the largest student run philanthropy event in the state of New Jersey?

What a great sense of humor you have.

Right. You deserve YHS, no doubt. My mistake.

How lame. First you understate the gravity of my volunteer work, then you overstate the extent of my ambitions. Not one thing you've said has been constructive or addressed the reality of my situation. Well done.

pz lata